Messages By the Mile/Margery Facklam/Created by Long Beach District
Unit 5/Week 1
Title: Messages By The Mile
Suggested Time: 5 days (45 minutes per day)
Common Core ELA Standards: RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3; W.4.2, W.4.4, W.4.7, W.4.8, W.4.9; SL.4.1, SL.4.2, SL.4.4; SL.4.5; L.4.1, L.4.2
Teacher Instructions
Refer to the Introduction for further details.
Before Teaching
- Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis. Please do not read this to the students. This is a description for teachers, about the big ideas and key understanding that students should take away after completing this task.
Big Ideas and Key Understandings
By observing the mysteries of animals, scientists can discover interesting adaptations such as infrasonic communication.
Synopsis
Scientists, Dr. Roger Payne and Dr. Katherine Payne, have discovered that the use of infrasonic sounds is a method of communication used by whales. Using this prior knowledge, Dr. Katherine Payne observes elephants and determines that elephants also use infrasound to communicate.
- Read entire main selection text, keeping in mind the Big Ideas and Key Understandings.
- Re-read the main selection text while noting the stopping points for the Text Dependent Questions and teaching Vocabulary.
During Teaching
- Students read the entire main selection text independently.
- Teacher reads the main selection text aloud with students following along.(Depending on how complex the text is and the amount of support needed by students, the teacher may choose to reverse the order of steps 1 and 2.)
- Students and teacher re-read the text while stopping to respond to and discuss the questions and returning to the text. A variety of methods can be used to structure the reading and discussion (i.e.: whole class discussion, think-pair-share, independent written response, group work, etc.)
Text Dependent Questions
Text Dependent Questions / AnswersThe sentences, “you might think the world’s second-largest animal would have the loudest voice, but we can’t hear even a trace of the fin whale’s long distance sound.” Why can’t we hear even a trace of the fin whale’s long distance song? / The reason we aren’t able to hear the fin whale’s long distance song is because it is below the level humans can hear.
How is the mystery of not hearing the fin whale explained?
After students share infrasonic sound, follow-up with the question below.
Explain what infrasonic sound is and give an example from the text. / Infrasonic sounds are sounds so low that humans can’t hear but can sometimes feel. An example could be the rumblings of earthquakes, volcanoes, and severe thunderstorms as they’re building. Another example could be how ocean divers can feel tingling sounds when they’re near big whales.
A mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand. If a mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand, why is the process by which whales make sounds still a mystery? How were the scientists trying to solve the mystery? / The process by which a whale makes a sound is a mystery because they have no vocal cords and whales have a lot of complicated “plumbing” in their heads and we don’t know how it all works. The scientists recorded and listened to the sounds the whales made while feeding in the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans in the spring.
The process by which whales make sounds continues to be a mystery to scientists. What are two things scientists still don’t know about whales’ infrasonic sounds? / Scientists still don’t know how whales make their infrasonic sounds since they don’t have vocal cords. Scientists also don’t know what these sounds mean.
Are all whale songs the same? / All whale songs are not the same. They are made up of long, low rumbles, shrill whistles, grunts, eerie groans, and high squeaks. Some conversations are short while others are long and complicated.
Dr. Payne suspects elephants are sending infrasonic messages. What caused her to suspect they were sending infrasonic messages? / Dr. Payne suspected that the elephants were sending infrasonic messages because she could feel a repeating “throbbing” in the air while observing the elephants. That “throbbing” reminded her of when she was in the church choir and felt a similar throbbing from the low notes on the pipe organ. In addition, she thought about the vibrations from the whale songs she studied.
What mysteries about elephants could be explained by infrasonic sound? / An example of how infrasonic sound would explain elephant behavior is when a group of female elephants suddenly stop, pause, and change direction. Another example would be how elephant groups can arrive at a watering hole at the same time. In addition, how a male elephant finds a female for mating.
What differences did scientists observe when the elephants made the deep rumbling sounds or purring sounds as compared to the low level “silent” sounds? Use the text to support your answer. / The rumblings and purring sounds can be heard by the human ear but the low level silent sounds are only audible using special taping equipment.
Inferred means to come to a conclusion based on evidence. What was inferred about elephants’ behaviour of standing as still as statues and fanning out their ears? / The elephants stand as still as statues with ears fanned out for a few minutes then change directions suddenly, so it can be inferred that they are listening to infrasonic sounds giving them directions or instructions.
How did Dr. Payne discover that elephants communicate using infrasonic sounds? / She used special recording equipment and she noticed the trembling spot on forehead.
Vocabulary
KEY WORDS ESSENTIAL TO UNDERSTANDING / WORDS WORTH KNOWINGGeneral teaching suggestions are provided in the Introduction
TEACHER PROVIDES DEFINITION
not enough contextual clues provided in the text / amplified, mystery, explanation
registered
throbbing
vibrations
vocal cords
migrated / plumbing
shrill
grunts
eerie
hollows
equipment
tune
pitch
trumpeting
STUDENTS FIGURE OUT THE MEANING
sufficient context clues are provided in the text / rumbling
recording
Culminating Task
Re-Read, Think, Discuss, Write
Using specific details and evidence from the text, explain how Dr. Payne contributed to the discoveries of infrasonic sounds.
Answer:
Dr. Payne greatly contributed to the discoveries of infrasonic sounds. For example, she observed the strange throbbing in the air when she was watching the elephants. This throbbing reminded her of the same throbbing she felt from the pipe organ in the church choir and also the vibrations from the whales’ infrasonic sounds. These observations led her to study whether or not elephants were using infrasonic messages. She learned that when elephants made rumblings that humans could hear, there was a trembling in their forehead. Also, when they made silent sounds, there was a fluttering in their foreheads. This, coupled with the recording, led her to know that elephants use infrasonic sounds.
Additional Tasks
With a partner, use the Internet to research what others animals are known to use infrasonic sounds. Take notes on your finds and keep track of your sources. Be sure to use at least two sources. After you’ve collected all of your information, write a summary of your findings. Provide a list of your sources, and create a 3-minute presentation that explains your findings. Include at least one visual aid in your presentation.
Possible websites/information:
“It is the first evidence that land mammals can produce such infrasonic sounds, and it adds the elephants' basso calls to the wildlife choir that includes the high-frequency shrieks of bats, the soprano voices of porpoises, the alto wails of wolves and coyotes and the tenor-to-bass-range songs of humpback whales. The significance and role of such sounds, audible to people or not, has long puzzled wildlife biologists.”
“Whales, elephantsrhinoceros, giraffes, okapi, and alligators are known to use infrasound to communicate over varying distances of up to many miles as in the case of the whale, for instance. It has also been suggested that migrating birds use naturally generated infrasound, from sources such as turbulent airflow over mountain ranges, as a navigational aid.”